Friday, April 1, 2011

Gym Hamster - Week 9 Update - Lifestyle Changes

It's week 9 at the gym and that's no April Fool! My workout is pretty routine now. I rotate equipment every day I go so that work outs aren't completely the same... but I'm also interested in trying some classes now!

I've noticed when I work out at home with "Leslie" I often push myself harder than I would at the gym because she encourages me to do so. And sometimes all we need is a little push! So next week I want to try one or two classes at the gym and see what they "feel" like, I really want to be challenged.

Weight loss for me has been slow but steady. As much as I would like to lose weight more quickly I feel like this is the first time in my life I'm truly understanding what it means to eat healthily for my body for LIFE. That this change will have to be lifelong. It can't just stop once I've lost the weight I need to lose.

When I lost weight "the first time" in my adult life, it was just before I got married. And it wasn't because I was getting married... we had super quick engagement and decided in two months to plan a wedding and get married... because we roll like that. (lol since Sally thought "shot gun" seemed inappropriate since babies weren't involved!) But previous to those decisions I lost fifty pounds.

I lost weight initially by using the Leslie Sansone Walk Away the Pounds videos (and they were literally VIDEOS back then! lol), then joining Curves and meticulously watching what I ate. I used several methods to keep track of my food. I used a "Food Mover" from Richard Simmons... I attempted Weight Watchers... several times... I cut out ALL carbs for a few weeks (that didn't last long)... I don't remember everything I did... but it was never consistent. I never learned how to make healthy eating (or exercising) a LIFESTYLE.

And that's what is different this go around. I lost weight quickly five years ago... but I didn't do it in the right way. And it didn't "stick."

On this journey, I want it to "stick." I want working out just to be a part of life, not something I do to lose weight. I want healthy meals and keeping portions in check to be part of every day... not just for a few months "this time."

So really today, it's just about realizing this is life. I've never going to be someone who can eat "anything they want" and be healthy. It just doesn't work for my body that way. But it doesn't mean I can't have a cupcake when I want one. It means to simply have ONE, be mindful of eating it, and remember that it's not something to be eaten every day. But it doesn't mean I have to cut it out completely as I did in the past. That wasn't healthy either.

What is something that's simply part of a healthier lifestyle for you today? Something not necessarily about weight loss, but just something that you know you have to do to be healthier forever?

But, ummm, Carrie, 'shotgun wedding' means that the bride is already pregnant and her dad's (figuratively if not literally) standing by the groom with a shotgun. Somehow I don't think that's quite what you meant.

This all sounds really, really wonderful, and you sound committed to this in a durable way.

Have you ever read Geneen Roth's Women, Food & God? http://www.amazon.com/Women-Food-God-Unexpected-Everything/dp/1416543074 I didn't really think I had "food issues" until I read her book, & I use the themes in it to try to teach my 2 daughters to have a healthy relationship with food. I learned that it's not so much about what you're eating, but why you're eating. Anyway, you are doing great! congratulations!

I quit eating "breakfast"...which for me was fried eggs and fried potatoes and fried apples and...you get the idea. I now have a protein smoothie instead. Probably not for everyone, but I find that if I have a healthier breakfast I don't want to "ruin the rest of the day" so to speak. So I eat better from then on.

Carrie,loved your comment about not being the person who can just eat whatever you want and be healthy, because that's such a seductive myth.According to consumer reports, 3 percent of thin people reported that they never exercised and that they ate whatever they pleased. http://bit.ly/emrcAhI'm not even sure I'd buy that the # is that high! so you're in wonderful company.